Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Bocklin 05-04-05, 09:37 AM	*** This Thread contains a lot of SPOILERS related to the WOSQ novels *** Please note that this thread is not intended as a discussion of the novels, but rather as a discussion of the events and the changes brought to the Realms by the series. Please refrain from discussing the novels themselves (as per the CoC for the Boards). It would be a pain to see the Thread closed because of that. *** This Thread contains a lot of SPOILERS related to the WOSQ novels ***
Bocklin 05-04-05, 09:37 AM	So, that's it, the series is over. The last book has been published and you have read it. If not, you’d better not read further otherwise you’ll spoil the fun. It took a long time and I can barely believe it is now over. Hasn’t it been two years or so since the series started? It took six books and a lot of time to the authors and to the readers to get there. We went through highs and lows and bore witness to more than one major conflict throughout the story. But, storyline-wise, was it worth it? In the end, what are the real changes brought to the Realms? From the onset, the series was marketed as something that would shake the foundations of the Drow-life style and might potentially have major consequences throughout the setting. But I must admit that (from that perspective) I am a bit disappointed… - First of all, let’s take a look at Lolth herself. She is back, more or less the same. Nothing major here: she went into some kind of hibernation and came out, supposedly stronger but we still have to see that in action. She did not die or disappear; maybe she gained a couple of ranks within the godly hierarchy. - Second: the Demonweb Pits. If I read the novels right, they are now supposed to be a plane of their own, torn out of the Abyss and turned into a separate planar location by Lolth. Well, why not, that’s a change. But since it happened (IRL) at the same time WotC was redesigning completely the whole FR cosmology it just seems to me that it is a water drop in the ocean… They re-designed the cosmology without writing a single book to justify it, so they might have as well included this specific change (i.e. the Demonweb Pits) into the whole re-design of the cosmology. And doesn’t it already shows in the PGtF that the Demonweb Pits are a separate plane? - To conclude on the godly level, we should probably address the issue of Halisstra. What did she become? Is she now some kind of Über-fiend, serving Lolth as “assassin”/watchdog or did she become a real goddess in her own right? Anyway she is subservient to Lolth, that’s for sure. There is potential room for changes here (i.e. a new Drow goddess), but my reading is that she is just meant to be some kind of fiendish servant of Lolth whom we’ll never ever hear about in the future except as a one or two lines reference in some sourcebook. But I might be wrong. - Then you have the issue of what it has changed for the Drows. And there again I got the feeling that nothing has really changed. Menzoberanzan is still standing, the Baenre are still holding the reins and the hierarchy of houses has been barely grazed. The books do not say so, but one can imagine that things are back to normal in other Drow cities and the couple of heretic groups that started to feel strong here and there have been or will probably be crushed in no time by the priestesses. - The only real changes I see are that two cities were destroyed: Ched Nasad and Maermydia. But does it really count? These cities were practically unknown before the series started so one is left wondering if they were not just made up by the authors just for the pleasure of being destroyed during the WotSQ… OK, maybe it is a bit of exaggeration on my behalf, but I would like to hear your opinion about that as well. I might have overseen something, so please do not hesitate to correct me if I am wrong or forgot something. And like I said: I really would like to hear your opinion about the events depicted in the WotSQ series: are you satisfied with the changes, if changes there are? Let's focus on the events and the storyline, so as to keep the Thread legit in regards to the "novels policy". I look forward to hearing from you all. Bocklin
ericlboyd 05-04-05, 11:14 AM	- The only real changes I see are that two cities were destroyed: Ched Nasad and Maermydia. But does it really count? These cities were practically unknown before the series started so one is left wondering if they were not just made up by the authors just for the pleasure of being destroyed during the WotSQ… OK, maybe it is a bit of exaggeration on my behalf, but I would like to hear your opinion about that as well. Ched Nasad was relatively well detailed in Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, so I'd beg to differ on the first point. ;-) Maerimydra was relatively unknown, but it's effects have been felt for centuries. Look through Cormanthyr's history (Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Fall of Myth Drannor), particularly the bits about the Land Under Shadow, and you'll see that the drow return again and a again. In other words, the impact of Maerimydra's fall may radically alter the impact of the drow on Cormanthyr in general and Shadowdale in particular. It might have the effect of driving the drow to the surface, without a subterranean base, or it might lead to the drow gradually abandoning the region altogether. Also, Gracklstugh is likely affected significantly. A single slit throat may lead to a devastating civil war among the duergar of the Deepkingdom. --Eric
Mortavier Shadewalk 05-04-05, 04:54 PM	It might not seem like they made to many changes, but I feel my campaign is definately going to go in a new direction now. Halistra is apparently charged with slaying worshipers of the elven pantheon and ellitraee (maybe other drow gods too, can't remember). I don't know about other characters, but my groups cleric of elistraee isn't going to like that. Also, the books said that Halistra's goodness wasn't destroyed, but buried. It might make for a nice villian-to-good guy plot twist if the evil layer could be stripped away. Oh and I can't leave phearaun dead. He's got to come back. He was just to cool a character. Alliza did have his finger. Wouldn't you be a little dissilusioned if you were left to be eaten by millions of spiders? I think I would. Maybe, just maybe, Nymor and Vock will attack Menzoberanzan again with a butt-load of shadow dragons and a little more arcane firepower in their ranks... (I won't rest until I see that annoying little city crushed to dust!) :evillaugh
Neluril Xor'alinn 05-04-05, 08:21 PM	The series seemed to be builing up to some real big change, but the last book seemed so anticlimactic. A shift in location of the DemonWeb Pits and maybe a slight change in power of Lolth. The whole series had seemed to be builing to something larger in my opinion. Oh... and the death of Phearaun was the sadest part :P, he was too awesome to die. Good work bringing him back :D.
Freakboy 05-04-05, 08:39 PM	So, that's it, the series is over. The last book has been published and you have read it. If not, you’d better not read further otherwise you’ll spoil the fun. It took a long time and I can barely believe it is now over. Hasn’t it been two years or so since the series started? It took six books and a lot of time to the authors and to the readers to get there. We went through highs and lows and bore witness to more than one major conflict throughout the story. But, storyline-wise, was it worth it? In the end, what are the real changes brought to the Realms? From the onset, the series was marketed as something that would shake the foundations of the Drow-life style and might potentially have major consequences throughout the setting. But I must admit that (from that perspective) I am a bit disappointed… - First of all, let’s take a look at Lolth herself. She is back, more or less the same. Nothing major here: she went into some kind of hibernation and came out, supposedly stronger but we still have to see that in action. She did not die or disappear; maybe she gained a couple of ranks within the godly hierarchy. - Second: the Demonweb Pits. If I read the novels right, they are now supposed to be a plane of their own, torn out of the Abyss and turned into a separate planar location by Lolth. Well, why not, that’s a change. But since it happened (IRL) at the same time WotC was redesigning completely the whole FR cosmology it just seems to me that it is a water drop in the ocean… They re-designed the cosmology without writing a single book to justify it, so they might have as well included this specific change (i.e. the Demonweb Pits) into the whole re-design of the cosmology. And doesn’t it already shows in the PGtF that the Demonweb Pits are a separate plane? - To conclude on the godly level, we should probably address the issue of Halisstra. What did she become? Is she now some kind of Über-fiend, serving Lolth as “assassin”/watchdog or did she become a real goddess in her own right? Anyway she is subservient to Lolth, that’s for sure. There is potential room for changes here (i.e. a new Drow goddess), but my reading is that she is just meant to be some kind of fiendish servant of Lolth whom we’ll never ever hear about in the future except as a one or two lines reference in some sourcebook. But I might be wrong. - Then you have the issue of what it has changed for the Drows. And there again I got the feeling that nothing has really changed. Menzoberanzan is still standing, the Baenre are still holding the reins and the hierarchy of houses has been barely grazed. The books do not say so, but one can imagine that things are back to normal in other Drow cities and the couple of heretic groups that started to feel strong here and there have been or will probably be crushed in no time by the priestesses. - The only real changes I see are that two cities were destroyed: Ched Nasad and Maermydia. But does it really count? These cities were practically unknown before the series started so one is left wondering if they were not just made up by the authors just for the pleasure of being destroyed during the WotSQ… OK, maybe it is a bit of exaggeration on my behalf, but I would like to hear your opinion about that as well. I might have overseen something, so please do not hesitate to correct me if I am wrong or forgot something. And like I said: I really would like to hear your opinion about the events depicted in the WotSQ series: are you satisfied with the changes, if changes there are? Let's focus on the events and the storyline, so as to keep the Thread legit in regards to the "novels policy". I look forward to hearing from you all. Bocklin Potentially we will see Ched Nasad rise up as a stronghold for the Jaezzred Chaulssin and thus a major player in the politics of the Underdark. I hope that is expounded upon in a future sourcebook as the blurb in Underdark didn't seem to imply the Chaulssin were in control but that seems to be the case from the story. As for Halisstra, who is to say, but Paul Kemp on his website said that his impression was that she was a chosen of Lolth. I doubt we will see anything written on this in the future beyond a blurb that she exists, likely as a unique fiend/servant. I am hopeful we will see a "Drow" sourcebook in the next year or two similar to Drow of the Underdark only updated to 3.5 and taking into account all the changes wrought in WotSQ. I would even say that I would love to see a "Menzoberranzan" book that is similar to City of Splenders with all these side issues addressed in the material that way. In other respects time will tell, although I do think Lolth may gain some domains and I am hopeful she will have an initiate feat in the Champions of Ruin similar to what Loviatar and some others have had in other books. It seems with WotSQ concluding that having an initiate of Lolth feat and spells would be a natural choice in a book on evil in the Realms. I do hope we have a Drow based sourcebook, but with all the attention the Drow have had the last year or so from WotC I doubt we see any new source material any time soon.
Freakboy 05-04-05, 08:45 PM	Ched Nasad was relatively well detailed in Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, so I'd beg to differ on the first point. ;-) Maerimydra was relatively unknown, but it's effects have been felt for centuries. Look through Cormanthyr's history (Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Fall of Myth Drannor), particularly the bits about the Land Under Shadow, and you'll see that the drow return again and a again. In other words, the impact of Maerimydra's fall may radically alter the impact of the drow on Cormanthyr in general and Shadowdale in particular. It might have the effect of driving the drow to the surface, without a subterranean base, or it might lead to the drow gradually abandoning the region altogether. Also, Gracklstugh is likely affected significantly. A single slit throat may lead to a devastating civil war among the duergar of the Deepkingdom. --Eric Good point on Graklstugh Eric. Horgar Steelshadows death at the hands of Nimor could have far reaching consequences. That plus the failed attack on Menzo might make the Duergar seek vengance on the Chaulssin Drow. Since Ched Nassad is being raised as a stronghold of theirs, it would seem that a war between Gracklstugh and Ched Nassad could be in the future. As for Cormanthyr, Jaelre is still there and I would think relatively unaffected by Maermidya's fall. Although they don't have to worry about attacks from their subterranean cousins, so they might be able to take their offensive on Cormanthyr and the Dalelands up a notch without that threat to worry about. Obvoiusly Jezz the Lame is aware of the silence and Maermidya's fall as highlighted in the third book so there could definately be some activity in that part of things. I also think everyone is grossly underestimating the overall effect of Lolth becoming a greater goddess. In game terms it may seem minor, but with the new influx of power, Lolth may be more interested in having her followers take the fight to the surface elves at levels not seen since the Fourth Crown War. Time will tell, but I was quite satisfied with the level of change that was wrought in the books and I am looking forward to the "game" effects of the series.
Bocklin 05-05-05, 08:38 AM	Dear Eric, Point well taken. :-) I hope that we will see these specific changes reflected in future source books or novels. And thanks to the other posters for their comments so far. Bocklin Ched Nasad was relatively well detailed in Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark, so I'd beg to differ on the first point. ;-) Maerimydra was relatively unknown, but it's effects have been felt for centuries. Look through Cormanthyr's history (Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves and Fall of Myth Drannor), particularly the bits about the Land Under Shadow, and you'll see that the drow return again and a again. In other words, the impact of Maerimydra's fall may radically alter the impact of the drow on Cormanthyr in general and Shadowdale in particular. It might have the effect of driving the drow to the surface, without a subterranean base, or it might lead to the drow gradually abandoning the region altogether. Also, Gracklstugh is likely affected significantly. A single slit throat may lead to a devastating civil war among the duergar of the Deepkingdom. --Eric
Zanan 05-06-05, 04:34 AM	Vendui! A couple of points here. What irritated me about the fall of Ched Nasad was the fate of some of their more powerful characters - they are probably dead, but who knows. Namely the fates of the two Nasadrans, Aunrae and Ildibane. One would expect that the most powerful priestess (of those known by name and class level) of Lolth of Faerûn as well as her equally powerful brother had some means of escape handy. Furthermore, Shyntlara Auvryndar, a drow vampire priestess of Lolth could have easily escaped as well - gaseous form. Some points left to answer then. Another thing is the fate of the other deities. Vhaeraun lost one of his hands* fighting with Selvetarm, the latter still lives as well. Kiaransalee climbed in rank too and methinks that Lolth will not harrass her more than before, since she would surely have expected her "subordinates" to try and sneak up behind her back and rob and slay a few followers here and there. (*Shouldn't he regenerate that in no-time?) I don't think that the Wizards will have a new "Menzoberranzan" book soon - and in all honesty, we don't need one either, do we? That city has seen so much attention that any other drow city would be much more welcome, perhaps even one which has more than just the archetypical (D&D as well as FR) drow feature of Lolthites ruling all, e.g. Sshamath or Eryndlyn. As for the ranking, it seems that (according to Paul S. Kemp, even though he is "just" a novel author) Lolth has indeed acquired enough divine ranks (two ?) to become a greater goddess. As far as I am concerned, I do not need to know more about it, for as a player or DM I have no real interest in divine struggles, power or high-level-epic gaming. For the ordinary drow worshipper, life goes on and Lolth is simply Lolth again.
Another Gnome 05-06-05, 04:40 AM	Vhaeraun lost one of his hands* fighting with Selvetarm Selvetarm being of lesser rank, at least Vhaeraun should recover of that fairly easily.
Jonathan Strange 05-06-05, 02:02 PM	I too thought there may be some major drow changes after this book but it seems not. Perhaps all the events in the novels will be used for some sort of future War of the Spider Queen modules. I can't imagine a drow sourcebook coming out due to these events, especially since they could have been included in Underdark or Champions of Ruin.
Vulpes 05-06-05, 10:11 PM	I'm still a bit hazy as to HOW exactly this whole thing allowed Lolth to become a Greater Goddess. Anyone have any theories? I think the changes to drow society are subtle and may not play out for a long time. Though Lolth is back and the priestesses are back in power, the males now know that they aren't invulnerable. There may be a bit of a masculinist movement afoot. And the Chaulssin takeover of Ched Nessad will probably have some effects. I doubt we've seen the last of Pharaun. (And that Ao for that!)
msatran 05-07-05, 12:35 PM	Ched Nesad will not belong to the underdark. It will belong to the Morueme Clan of Blue Dragons. Did you see what the Morueme Dragon that lives down there is? Mature Adult Blue Dragon Sorcerer 12? He's a CR 26 Creature, for god's sake. And he has DOZENS of Lawful Evil relatives. I guarantee you it will become a Morueme Trading post within a few years, assuming you didn't run a two year plot to get PC's to dig the guy's treasure out because you're ahead of their timeline like me. So I still have to wait two years before the Moruemes rule their own little chunk of Underdark.
Zevox 05-07-05, 01:06 PM	And what makes you think a group of Blue Dragons will attempt to take a city full of Shadow Dragons and Half-Drow/Half-Shadow-Dragons? Sounds like a highly risky venture to me, even with a CR26 leader. Theres bound to be a Shadow Dragon around there that can match him. Zevox
samoosa691 05-07-05, 09:29 PM	from the first module that i read which was in palyers guide to faerun, (not really novel) just introduction, it had said that she was attacked and that selvatarm came to her rescue. So if she indeed did go into hybernation thus not giving her clerics and spells and what not, how did she just all of a sudden come back? why was she silent in the first place? was it just a test or something? The reason i'm asking is because I am going to be running city of the spider queen and it would make a great post adventure, find out why the spider queen is silent.,ooooh............
Bocklin 05-09-05, 04:07 AM	Well, I am actually wondering if Paul Kemp was aware of the Underdark entry for Ched Nasad when he was writing the last chapters of Resurrection (i.e. if he knew of the story with the Blue Dragon). I much better like the Jezzred Chaulssin alternative so I am happy he brought it up, but I am wondering about what is now supposed to happen with the material contained in Underdark. I guess that, eventually, WotC will have to incorporate both, NO all three plots together. If I remember correctly you have: 1 - The Big Bad Evil Blue Dragon looking for his treasure and other spoils in the ruins (does not seem to be interested in more though) 2 - A group of Shar loving Drow priestesses plotting just for the sake of it in the depth of the destroyed city 3 - And finally the Jezzred Chaulssin (I mean the Drow Half-Shadow Dragons) Who is going to win the fight for Ched Nasad is up to one's own campaign or to a future novel. Let's not focus on that... ;) Bocklin And what makes you think a group of Blue Dragons will attempt to take a city full of Shadow Dragons and Half-Drow/Half-Shadow-Dragons? Sounds like a highly risky venture to me, even with a CR26 leader. Theres bound to be a Shadow Dragon around there that can match him. Zevox
Zanan 05-09-05, 04:52 AM	I put that Ched Nasad and Were-Dragons question to Paul S. Kemp HERE (http://www.livejournal.com/users/paulskemp/10749.html?view=68861#t68861)
Bocklin 05-09-05, 05:56 AM	I put that Ched Nasad and Were-Dragons question to Paul S. Kemp HERE (http://www.livejournal.com/users/paulskemp/10749.html?view=68861#t68861) Great Thread, Zanan, thanks for the tip. It is very nice to be able to read Paul's personnal and insider comments on the series! Bocklin
Slime Lord 05-09-05, 08:42 AM	I was just disapointed with the outcome of situations... The only thing I truely don't get is how Eliss's and Vhae became massive dolts?! Intrusting a (Major?) Artifact of sorts to a recent Priestess of your mother? Intresting move, should have worked, looked like they didn't want Eliss's (Wiz, not Paul) to be smart again against her mommy. Vhae? Smart move on the Ultraloth. Smarter to take a few of your strongest members and combine them with the Ultra. Same goes for Eliss. If you had a chance of killing your mother, wouldn't YOU send your strongest? Would you even *think* about joining forces in a loose treedy with your twin sibling, just to kill her? Oh, and explain to me when a Ultraloth can be destroyed in two moves against a Wizard farless powerful than your self. I don't like the idea of using this made-out-dummies in games, knowing they aren't dumb at all.
Shemeska the Marauder 05-09-05, 11:55 AM	Oh, and explain to me when a Ultraloth can be destroyed in two moves against a Wizard farless powerful than your self. I posed this question to Paul as well on his LJ and he answered. Obviously he and I feel very differently about it, and he now refers to it and a few factual goofs* in the book regarding fiends as 'that fiend issue'. ;) Effectively he said that the 'loth was 'softened up' by a cone of cold and then finished off by a maximized delayed blast fireball that he couldn't evade. And Pharaun was 'epic' so that solves that, apparently... I'd have handled it much differently with regards to the handling of the fiends. Otherwise I enjoyed it all immensely, it was just a drastic difference of opinion on that subject matter. However Inthacis/Anthraxus is still alive by way of a varient stasis clone of himself, though he's apparently stepping into the background for a bit and allowing his second in command, an arcanaloth sorcerer, to handle most things in his stead in the event that Vhaeraun is displeased at the fallout in events. And again, the 2nd most powerful yugoloth lord in FR in my opinion shouldn't be so much as tweaked by a middling drow deity, especially on his own home plane, it should frankly by the other way around. But again we get back to the whole 'I'd have done it differently' thing. ;) *Tanar'ri in the book are only affected by lightning when they are actually wholly immune to lightning. Yugoloths are said to be immune to lightning but they don't have that immunity at all. Yugoloths don't spawn from larvae/petitioners but they do in the book. Paul apologized for the first mixup over on enworld and it seems that he switched a few lines in his notes regarding fiend immunities and didn't catch the mistake. Edit: Here's the link to the LJ, and I think that Paul's comments give an interesting companion to the development of the story and the underlying process of how everything fit into place. Right here. (http://www.livejournal.com/users/paulskemp/10749.html)
Zanan 05-09-05, 03:32 PM	*Tanar'ri in the book are only affected by lightning when they are actually wholly immune to lightning. Yugoloths are said to be immune to lightning but they don't have that immunity at all. Yugoloths don't spawn from larvae/petitioners but they do in the book. Paul apologized for the first mixup over on enworld and it seems that he switched a few lines in his notes regarding fiend immunities and didn't catch the mistake. Then again Shem, who looks into details about tanar'ri and loths anyway ;) BTW, one of my players found the easy way around most immunities: sonic attacks. Thundering weapons work just fine against most of them too. (But I guess you know that, don't you?)
Bocklin 05-10-05, 03:04 AM	(deleted to make sure we keep on the safe side regarding the Novels Guidelines)
Mortavier Shadewalk 05-10-05, 04:31 PM	It seems that Pharaun also used to know that. ;) In book 4 or 5, when he battles the Glabrezu that fathered Jeggred he finishes him off with some kind of major sonic blast, right? I think that was a wail of the banshee.
Zevox 05-10-05, 04:36 PM	Actually, I thought he used one of Bigby's hand spells for killing Jeggred's father. The Wail of the Banshee was against the Yugoloth army. Zevox
Freakboy 05-10-05, 09:29 PM	It was a greater shout. Wail of the Banshee is for all intensive purposes a death effect. Phauran assaulted the Glabrezu with sonic energy that bruised and pulverized it. That isn't the effect Wail of the Banshee has. Against the Yugoloth army there were several different spells, but I don't remember a Bigby's hand spell athough Phauran did use them often enough throughout the rest of the books. For sure he used Bigby's Interposing Hand (Book I), Bigby's Clenched Fist (Book II) and Bigby's Crushing Hand (don't remember exactly when on this one but I believe in Book VI). Phauran's spell repetouire was really fantastic. We saw at various times... Chain Lightning Lightning Bolt Acid Fog Obscuring Mist Greater Planar Binding Flensing Shatterfloor Tirumiel's Energy Spheres Fiendform Scintillating Sphere Incendiary Cloud Fly Fireball Delayed Blast Fireball Wall of Force Evard's Black Tentacles Sending Invisibility Greater Invisibility Invisibility Sphere Magic Missile Fire Spiders Binding Cone of Cold Contact Other Plane Scrying Water Breathing Contingency Bigby's Clenched Fist Bigby's Interposing Hand Bigby's Crushing Hand Power Word Stun Dhulark's Glasstrike Disintegrate ...and many, many more I can't think of right now. It is definately the sort of spell selection we would expect an accomplished Archmage to wield as opposed to just throwing fireball after fireball.
Bocklin 05-11-05, 03:58 AM	(deleted to make sure we keep on the safe side regarding the Novels Guidelines)
Bocklin 05-11-05, 04:00 AM	But back on the topic of this Thread: is there any other Realmsy changes we did not identify yet? Where do you see the storyline heading now? Bocklin
WizO_BigSister 05-11-05, 07:20 AM	Just a gentle reminder of a couple of things folks. * Getting into discussing the noevls as works of fiction (rather than simple sources of Realms Lore) is not allowed. Read this - Novels - Important Info - Read This! (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=185204) * It has also been made clear to us on several occasions that the authors are not bound to work srtictly within the current set of rules when they write. Remember the rules change, but the novels aren't rewitten for every rules change! * Criticising authors for the differences between events found in the novels and the current rules is one of the things that got us the novels rules in the first place. It is ok to point out inconsistencies. It is not ok to complain about them ... please accept that they are inevitable (due to the nature of the writing/publishing process), and move on from there.
crystaldragon 05-11-05, 07:42 PM	But back on the topic of this Thread: is there any other Realmsy changes we did not identify yet? Where do you see the storyline heading now? Bocklin One thing I would love to see is if Vhaeraun's position or attitude will have been altered by this storyline. Mommy Lolth is sure to be upset with him, as well as Kiaransalee -- she may have expected some backstabbing attempts but that doesn't mean she'll be pleased by them! In fact it seems to be a tenet of her faith that doing what is expected (or even commanded) will not necessarily keep you from being punished anyway. Perhaps fear of retribution combined with a bit of increased boldness may push him a little further out of Lolth's orbit. He might move a little closer to Eilistraee, with more emphasis on his surface worshipers, more emphasis on men's lib (so to speak), and maybe even a little less chaos. He might be looking for potential allies at this point and willing to make some deals. I would also like to see complete stats for New-and-Improved? Lolth, Hallisstra, Pharaun (just how many spell slots does he get per day?), Gromph, et. al. My group's party is nearing epic level, is involved with fighting the drow in the Dales, and is therefore quite likely to tangle with some of those characters in the future. I'm sure other groups that have been using the CotSQ module will be interested too. I do think there will be repercussions in the Dales. For one thing I would expect an exodus of refugees to the surface, because even though Menzo and most of the other cities survived, individual houses may not have. As the novels mention, some drow houses took advantage of the upheaval to settle old scores, others fell out of favor with higher-ranking houses, etc. The newly Houseless will be looking for somewhere to go. Regards, Crystaldragon
r_seldon 05-12-05, 01:02 PM	Overall I had enjoyed the storyline. I especially enjoyed the character of Phaerun. I have also enjoyed to more 'mature' content of the novels. As a long time reader of TSR novels, they did seem to be aimed at young children/young teens. Also I would have enjoyed it slightly better if it was 3 novels as opposed to 6,(I hated waiting for the next one!). As for the long term affects, it will probably be shown in the Underdark first, of course and probably the rest in a few years. I look forward to hearing more about it.
ClobberinTime 05-12-05, 01:38 PM	Honestly I was disappointed, I really hoped for an alignment change out of Lolth to NE, the drow killing themselves as a race with their backstabbing had to end, but without an alignment change on the part of Lolth it will not. Major impact- new major underdark race of 1/2 dragons, 1/2 drow. Maedrymira being gone will have more importance on the surface than losing Ched Nassad